Verse 7: “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”

Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after they sinned, but they couldn’t (Genesis 3:8-10). God is omnipresent: I can’t hide, but I also can’t be alone (2 sides of the same coin).

Verse 8: “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

Even to the highest (heaven) and lowest (Sheol) extremes, there’s nowhere I can go that God isn’t. I can’t run, and I can’t hide. Just like Jonah tried and failed (Jonah 1, 3), I can’t run from God.

Verses 9-10: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”

In Biblical times this meant from the west of Israel to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Right hand: power and authority (Psalm 74:11), place of safety and influence (Psalm 16:8), blessing (Genesis 48:13-18)

We can never be too far from God: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV)

Verses 11-12: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.’”

My perception isn’t the same as God’s (like my perception of time; 2 Peter 3:8-9)

God is light:

• “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 ESV
• “to give knowledge of salvation to his people, in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:77-79 ESV

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So what does this mean for us?

We can’t hide from God, even if we want to because we’re ashamed.

And why doesn’t God let us hide from Him? Hmm, something to think about.

So we ask ourselves. . . How does all this change me?